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squaring boards

10-24-2003, 08:11 PM

I need some help. I just got the Ridgid planer and have planed my first rough cut stock. Any advice on how I can square it with the table saw. I cant afford the jointer yet. The piece has a slight curve to it. I tried to straighten in on the TS but it is still curved. Is my only other option a hand plane? The board is about 5 ft long. Thanks for any help.
Todd

It's a bit of a hassle, but you can make a temporary attachment to a straight board to make the cut. Hopefully you have enough waste so that you can tack it with a cleat to another board without damaging needed wood.

I'm sure somebody else will have a better suggestion, but I know this will work.

Comment

"The Table Saw Book" by Kelly Mehler has a great explanation on how to get a decent straight edge on very irregular boards using a table saw that would be almost impossible using a jointer, however the edge isn't as clean as the with the jointer. The explanation is essentially a very good description with photos of what rofl said and since I can't explain much better than him, I'm just referencing the book.

If you don't have much material to remove and want a clean edge (for glue-ups or such), a router table can be configured to provide similar functionality as a jointer. Imagine if you tilted a jointer over so that the fence became the table/base and the infeed and outfeed tables became the fence, and now try to set this up on the router table. The split fence on the router table are the two jointer tables, so the one side of the split fence has a laminate or other thin material attached to it to provide the difference in cut height the the jointer tables usually provide. The base of the router table functions as the fence of the jointer, which has the potential benefit of allowing you to edge joint very wide boards in a stable way. All this information can be found in books on routers, of which, "Router Joinery" by Gary Rogowski is my personal favorite.

Hope this helps and pick up a few books published by Tauton press (but buy them on Amazon) for some excellent techniques and advice!

Comment

I rip a piece of 1/2" mdf a little widder than the board and use double sided tape to attach the crooked board on top. Run it through your table saw with the mdf against the fence. Remove the board from the mdf and flip it over. run it through your saw with the straight edge against the fence to complete squaring both sides. When I have several boards to square like this I will tape them together on edge then run them through the planer to finish the edges. Hope this helps. Dan

Comment

This rig is unusual in that, instead of riding the fence, it uses the miter slot for alignment. This makes it a world easier to use on long work than the ones that use the fence, plus it is "zero clearance", so gives a cleaner cut. Give me a shout if more info is necessary.

Seems tartan check is in this year. Thanks for the views. Reinforces my determination not to join the baseball capped, old farts of the present woodworking generation. Dave you go for it boy, you seem to be definitely part of it!!

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Back when I was a Hippie, a balding older gentleman offered me 40 years of experience for half of my hair. Stupid me... never learned the value of experience until I got old enough to get some of my own. This jig proves the point that there is ALWAYS another way to do something. Free education or experience shared freely is priceless to those of us humble enough to be willing to learn & ask the questions of those who have the knowledge

In my opinion, Dave Arbuckle provides some of the best, most reliable advice on this forum. I've been helped by him so many times, I couldn't figure out how he got so good. Figured that he had to be a retired industrial arts teacher or something. Probably wearing a plaid shirt and a baseball cap. So I arranged to meet him when I was in Plano. Young guy, daughter still in school, shop (garage) full of great tools and exotic woods. Works in computing. Can't figure out where he gets the base for that great advice, but maybe because he is as good as the older guys in the picture, and "hangs with them."

I haven't met Cutbuff David, but I appreciate his active woodworking contributions to the forum. So I hate to see a conflict or insult of any form. Especially between two contributors. Especially since it may have been intended as a joke, even though it didn't come out funny.

I need every bit of help I can get. So I hope Dave Arbuckle stays active in the forum. Maybe I need to get some plaid shirts (works for Norm Abrams too) and a baseball cap. Maybe I need to drop off my diet and give up on "Just for Men." And, by the way, I am 60, so probably qualify as one of the "old farts" even if I am not as good as them.

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I am truely saddened by your blatant comments in reply to Dave's post. The jig and photos are of a design many of us have not seen. Your comments have cheapened this forum and should be saved for the Off-Topic forum on Woodnet. I was tought growing up that if you didn't have anything nice to say about someone, you should say nothing at all.

Dave, many of us are greatful for your post. This jig was a great idea.

Can someone help me install this blade!!!!!!

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Given all that I have read on this forum between Dave and Cutbuff, I believe that the comments were meant in humor. What might sound funny or witty verbally or in your head does not always appear that way in writing. The written word has power, and can easily be misunderstood.

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never have I seen such unforgiving blasphemy as witnessed from this "cutbuff"!("cutthroat?")

I have gained untold woodworking knowledge and help
from Dave Arbuckle. To have this rant of total disgust against him leaves me with nothing but a
hollow distaste for him and any advice he may offer in the future.Dave will rise above this and I hope he will follow through with his reply and not let this ingrate get off with flimsy "I'm so sorry"(sorry indeed!!)
We need more Dave Arbuckles!!
Fred Drake